We are having our work holiday party tomorrow evening and I was given the task of bring a dessert. Our dinner is catered but the drinks and desserts are being brought by the staff.

I settled on making something seasonal so something made with pumpkin! I’ve tried Tartine’s pumpkin tea cake recipe in the past and know it will taste great but I also wanted to do something different so also decided on mini pumpkin cheesecakes (plus our pharmacy tech requested cheesecake of some sort and even though she doesn’t like pumpkin, she would eat pumpkin cheesecake…).

Tartine’s Pumpkin Tea Cake Recipe (with a few variations):

1 2/3 cups flour (used 1 cup whole wheat + 2/3 cup all purpose)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp + 2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves (did not use)
1 cup + 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 cup of vegetable oil (sunflower, canola or safflower)
1 1/3 cup of sugar (used 1 cup b/c pumpkin puree already sweetened)
3/4 tsp of salt
3 large eggs
2 tbsp sugar for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. (I used a mini loaf pan)
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer), beat the pumpkin puree, oil, sugar, and salt until well mixed. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, without over mixing. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl, then beat on medium spped for 5 to 10 seconds to make a smoth batter. It should have the consistency of a thick puree.
6. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Sprinkle evenly with the sugar.
7. Bake for about one hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (For mini loaf pans, took about 35 minutes.
8. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes then invert onto the rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely.
9. Serve the cake at room temperature. It will keep, well wrapped, at room temperature for 4 days or in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

The pumpkin cheesecake recipe comes from here.

I didn’t let the cream cheese sit at room temperature long enough so it didn’t blend up very well so you could see spots of cream cheese in the filling. But I guess it still tasted fine. Plus I ran out of maple syrup so substituted light corn syrup instead. Also, I ended up having to bake them a little longer because the centers wouldn’t set.

The above recipe uses a mini cheesecake pan but I just used my cupcake pan with paper liners and it turned out fine. I didn’t bother to make the topping, I don’t think the cheesecakes needed it.

The completed tray of cakes:

The cheesecakes (as I mentioned, you can still see a bit of the cream cheese):

The sugary topping of the pumpkin tea cakes. I decided to slice them all up so it’s be easier for everyone to pick up.